Season 3 ish
by brownylocks
Summary: Just probably the first couple of episodes of season 3 from what I would want to happen. Eventually a John/Cameron hopefully...
1. Intro

Alright this is pretty short but it's kinda just an intro. Let me know if anyone's into it and I'll write a few more chapters

_John steps outside just as the sun is setting on the horizon. He is momentarily distracted by a faint background noise he can't quite make out, until he notices a slim figure dressed in black pants and a green jacket, standing off to his left. John walks up behind her and calls to her._

"_Cameron? Cameron...?" He takes another step towards her as she turns around. She looks upset and has several gunshot wounds on her chest and a cut above her eye.. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" She doesn't answer him and instead turns back towards the almost completely black sky. John notes that her hand is twitching, just as it had before he had tried to fix it with the stored up endos. He takes another step towards her and touches her on the shoulder. The background noise gets louder, still indistinct, but beginning to bother him. She turns around, the left half of her face now almost completely without the skin, and several more holes showing in her chest. "You're upset." He tries to touch her face as she steps away._

"_You know that's impossible. You said it yourself john," Her voice cracks at the point, "I'm just a machine." Her eyes flash red and the noise becomes unbearably loud as the earth shakes and the world explodes around them. "I'm sorry John." A single tear makes its way out of Camerons still whole human eye. Cameron disappears from Johns vision as the fire from the explosions covers them both._

"_CAMERON!"_

"Cameron!!"

John sits bolt upright as he yells Camerons name. He looks around frantically to see himself in a room full of metal bunks with questionable looking matresses. No one appears to be around except him. He wipes the sweat off his brow and slows his breathing. Only then does he notice that the noise he heard in his dreams weren't entirely his imagination. A very loud siren and gun shots can be heard in the distance. He jumps out is bed and down to the ground, pulling on his shoes as fast as he can at the same time. John runs towards the door and sticks his head out into the dirty and slightly damp concrete halls to assess the situation. He looks right first and then left, where he sees a Terminator wielding a very large gun, coming around the corner, the hole in its chest exposing a large piece of coltan. He swears under his breath as it sees him. He ducks back into the bunk room and yells for help as it follows him sending off shots into the room. John ducks under the nearest bunk, narrowly avoiding a spray of bullets that ricochet off the metal bunks and send chunks of concrete and dust from the walls around him. He drags himself by his elbows, staying as flat as he can under the bunks, desperately looking for a weapon of any kind or a way to get back to the door. The bullet spray ceases for a whole minute. _Is he out of bullets? Surely not...not that that would really help me against a terminator...but maybe I can make a run for it- I'm dead if I stay here._

Taking a chance, John comes out from his hiding spot, the sweat on his hands stinging the new cuts and grazes. Just as he gets his full body out from under the bunk, a large, rough and impossibly strong hand grabs him around the neck, almost completely crushing his windpipe. John Chokes and futilely tries to pull the hands away while kicking at everything and nothing. The T-888 effortlessly tosses him against the nearest wall. John opens his eyes, coughing, winded, and groaning as the terminator raises his gun. John shuts his eyes and takes in his last breath as the shot goes off.

The T-888 collapses to the ground lifelessly as he whole right side of its head falls in pieces around him. Johns mouth is open in a state of shock as he looks up and squints, his hand partially over his eyes. There is a strong light just above his head which initially distorts his view of his protector. He whispers "Cameron?"


	2. Chapter 2

"What? You Okay? It was John right? I'm Allison. We sort of met last night..." The girl lowers her large weapon to her side and looks around, seemingly checking for any movement in the room.

John just stares with his mouth open

_Cameron. It's not her. She's gone and I probably won't ever see her again. _

"John?" She looks worried. "Alright, stay here for a sec." She hurries back towards the front door and uses a key from around her neck in a lock encased in plastic next to the door frame. The alarm, which John didn't realise was still going, falls silent. She disappears for a moment and john can hear low talking and a few phrases like "it's over" and "well done." She comes back in and squats down next to him.

"I'm sorry about that. Are you okay now?" She smiles and offers a hand to help him up, which he takes.

"What was that?" John asks.

"A Terminator followed one of the people on food scavenging duty home this morning. They aren't really trained to be as careful as soldiers but we're working on it. It's alright now though. Kyle and Derek have checked it out and it looks like he was alone so I think we're good."

"Oh." _It's definitely not her. Come on, get on with it. You're a soldier now._

"Are you sure you're okay? You just keep staring. Maybe he cut off your oxygen for a bit too long. I'll get you over to the medical quarters." She turns around and starts heading off, obviously meaning for him to follow her. He lightly grabs her arm as she turns.

"Wait. No, I'm really okay...I just.." He swallows and looks away. "You just look a lot like someone I used to know. Someone I lost recently." Her face softens as she gives him a sympathetic nod of understanding.

"Unfortunately losing people is a common thing around here. Was she a girlfriend or something?"

"I uh...well...it's complicated. I don't really want to talk about it if you don't mind."

"Sure. I think we should get the medics to take a look at you anyway okay? Let's go" She turns around again and heads out the door. This time John follows, silently lost in thought.

Kyle and Derek sit around a small square table in the dusty, dank room that makes up the officers quarters. A pile of guns can be seen on the table.

"So why do you think he went after that boy, John? He's a nobody." Kyle asks his brother as he looks up from cleaning a few of his favourite guns.

"Terminators that find us pretty much want to kill everyone Kyle."

"Okay fair enough, but why would he bother chasing around the kid for so long? Usually they'll go to an area with more people to shoot or an area with important officers." He Finishes cleaning his current gun and begins to put it back together.

"Well maybe he thought Connor was an officer?"

"Machines don't make mistakes Derek."

"Okay well maybe it's because he has a freakish resemblance to you." Kyle immediately looks up at Derek just as he finishes putting his gun together and loading it. "Woah. I didn't mean it in a bad way man. I'm just stating a fact. That's all." Kyle puts the gun away and begins work on another.

"Maybe. But, I mean, Allison said she saw John get grabbed around the neck by the metal. If the Terminator wasn't sure it was an officer he would have checked Johns blood when he touched him. I don't know." He shakes his head. " I guess we'll never know. Anyway, we have other things to worry about at the moment. Did you talk to Allison yet?"

"Not yet. I'll talk to her later tonight. I think she's tending to the kid right now. If she's still with him I imagine she's already decided he's on our side. I trust her." Derek puts his feet up.

"Yeah, our own little human lie detector. Alright, bring her here after dinner tonight. I hear someone found a few packets of dried ice-cream." Both Derek and Kyle grin. "Guess there are some perks of being the resistance leaders after all- I mean apart from the constant threat of impending death."

"Hey, at least it makes you feel alive. Alright, let's go over the plan one more time..."

"You all patched up? I'm sorry, I know the first few times you run into a terminator it can be a bit daunting." John looks at her, confused.

"Yeah...it's not actually the first terminator I've come up against one."

"Oh...I just assumed..." She looks at him sheepishly. "You just look like your whole world has suddenly come apart. You've barely spoken to anyone."

"It's a long story."

"I got time."

"Well..." John suddenly realises that he'll have to come up with a story. _Damn! I should have thought about that before. If I'm going to survive here, I'm going to have to pull it together._ "Okay, I'll give you the abridged version. I've been in hiding away from everything in that colony.." John trails off, fishing for something.

"Oh I've heard about a place maybe 100 miles west of here; A totally underground town with a complete stock of food and resources- not to mention a great defence system. No one knows how to get there and they like to keep it that way; at least, that's what I gather from the little I've heard here and there." John smiles and nods. "So what happened? You said you lost someone...did skynet find you?"

"No...um..my mother and my...the girl...we all went to find a friend of mine – uh...John Henry. He disappeared on a mission. We have a meeting place where he was supposed to go if he got into trouble and couldn't make it home so we went there and we were attacked. We all got separated and I don't really know what happened to the others..." John looks off into the distance, as if re-living his fictional story.

"John that's terrible. I'm so sorry." She looks at him, concern naked on her face. Allison steps closer to him and puts an arm around him and gives him a reassuring rub on the back. John suddenly looks uncomfortable and steps out of her semi-embrace. "Thank you."

John looks at her. "For what?"

"For explaining." Johns face displays shock as he blinks several times, rapidly, as if something is in his eyes. _ Cameron. _He looks away.

"It's ok. Listen I'm going to go lay down for a minute okay? I'll see you at dinner." He takes off down the hallway towards to bunk room without waiting for her response.


	3. Chapter 3

"Yesterdays recon and scavenger team came back with some valuable information, _and ice cream_," Derek smiles and whispers off the side to Kyle, who also grins, "but they weren't careful enough on their return and, as you all know, managed to get trailed by a terminator. With this and the half-asleep sentry debacle from last week, things are getting sloppy. You are soldiers! We need to get it together if we are going to defeat skynet. WHEN we do defeat them, we'll be the ones to lead the new free world and live in glory to our final days!" The soldiers all get to their feet and cheer, arms punching the air as Derek and Kyle make their way off the make-shift podium made of old bricks and a rusted door.

John continues to stare at where the leaders of the resistance, his father and his uncle, had just stood. _Trailed by terminators? Falling asleep on sentry duty? That seems so unorganised and amateur. That doesn't sound like Derek._

John walks over to where Allison, Derek and Kyle are huddled, discussing, with hushed voices. All three look up at his approach.

"John." Kyle nods in greeting.

"Hi Ky...uh..general Kyle? Or Reese?" _Or dad._ "I don't know what to call you."

"Well most people call Derek and I by our titles, but seeing as you appear to be so chummy with our star girl Allison already, you can call us by our first names." Derek shares looks with Allison and Kyle and smirks, as if this is a very generous gift they are giving him. _What happened to you, Derek?_

"Okay, Kyle. I was just wondering why our terminators weren't sent on the recon or scavenge mission? Or why they didn't wake the sentry guys up if they fell asleep. Are they glitching? Because I might be able to..." Allison, Derek and Kyle all look up and stare at John as if he's suddenly stripped down naked and begun dancing wildly around the room. "What?"

"John...what do you mean, _our_ _terminators?_ Why would we have metal? We want to destroy them and everything they represent!" Derek almost yells as all 3 continue to stare, completely dumbfounded.

"You guys don't reprogram terminators?"

"First of all, how would we even know how to do that? What they come with a manual we don't know about?" Kyle snorts as Derek continues speaking, "and secondly, why would we want to work with the enemy? They can't be trusted. They don't have a soul, they don't have reason, and all they want to do is destroy the human race and the entire world in general. They're evil." _But that's just how they're programmed. They're not evil..._

"How do you know they all want to destroy everything? Have you asked them?" John looks up to see the dancing naked look again. "I uh...I'm just kidding. Ha ha." John puts on his best fake laugh. "Because we never see terminators at the colony we all keep our sense of humours over there...knock knock anyone? Ha ha...reprogrammed terminators..." John still fake laughing begins to sweat all over, getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

"Hah. Yeah...listen John, I think maybe you should get some sleep. It's been a long couple of days..." Allison gives him a small encouraging push on the small of his back, instructing him to get moving.

"Weird kid." Kyle and Derek shake their heads as Allison and John head back to their respective rooms down the hall.

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John lies flat on his back with his elbows behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. The room is quietly humming with various pitches of snoring.

_I can't believe they don't reprogram terminators! When they go on missions they could tell them when someone's coming...they could stand in front of bullets for them...they could stay awake practically forever on sentry....why wouldn't they want that? And a world without skynet...it just won't happen. We created the technology, and somewhere down the track, it's going to happen again. We have to learn to work with them – or at least some of them. And Derek! I can't believe he's so ..._

John sits up as he hears footsteps near the front door. _Probably just the sentries._ He can't help but head to the door to check. As he peaks around the frame he sees Allison's back as she heads away from him. _Where is she going at this hour? She's not on watch tonight..._

John waits until she rounds another corner and then silently follows her. She comes to a stop outside the officer's quarters and knocks 2 times fast and 3 times slow. _Some kind of code maybe._

"Allison! Glad you could make it. Sorry about the cloak and dagger bit but this is a really important mission and we needed a time when no one else would interrupt us so we could fully explain how important it is." Kyle indicates towards the empty chair next to Derek. Allison obliges. "Now, we chose you for this because you are both the best, and the least likely to be sent on this type of mission. No one else knows about it except your team and the people in this room."

_God she looks so much like Cameron._ Allison pushes the hair out of her face and nods, listening intently and biting her lip in anticipation and maybe a little fear. _No...Cameron would never do any of that. It's too human...No no, I have to pay attention. Life and death stuff here John._ He shakes his head as if clearing it.

"...you and the few others I just mentioned..." _Oh well, I probably wouldn't have known the other people anyway._ "You're going to break in and blend, but only for a small while. Machines don't stay fooled for long. You get in, do what you need to do, and then get out. The team will help you get away and then it'll be one of the biggest victories we'll ever have! I know this is asking a lot... do you think you can handle it?" There's a pause as Kyle's words hang in the air and Allison looks down, deciding her fate.

She looks up; sits a little straighter and stares Kyle squarely in the eye "I can do this. I want to do this." Kyle and Derek break into enormous grins and slap each other, followed by Allison (albeit a bit gentler), on the back.

"I knew we chose you for a reason. Alright, let's go through it a few more times, just in case there are any holes. Shut that door though, I can hear dripping outside.

John ducks and scurries towards the corner as fast as he can without making too much noise. He leans against the wall and closes his eyes as the sound of the rusty door slamming reaches his ears.

_Where are they breaking into? Why would they need Allison to do it?_ John continues to ponder as he makes his way back to his bunk. Even if she wasn't Cameron, he couldn't stand the thought of Allison being in any danger. However possible, he would find out what was going on.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews guys!

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"_I'm just a machine." And the fire envelops them both._

"_CAMERON!!!"_

Johns eyes open slowly, used to the disturbing vision that was the sole focus of all his dreams. He sits up and rubs his eyes, getting ready for the interrogations he would perform, without anyone else's knowledge, in the next few hours.

He sits at breakfast staring at his bowl full of a greyish looking substance that is not quite liquid or solid. He pushes the plate away.

"You know after a few more days here without food, you'll be shovelling that down so fast you'll probably pass out because you'll forget to breath. " John looks over at the medium build, dark haired boy across the table from him. He was probably around Johns age.

"Yeah, I guess. " John grimaces and takes a small bite before pushing the bowl away again. "So I was wondering about..." _Small talk first John._ "...about you. How long have you been here? What's your story?" The boy smiles widely and takes a deep breath, as if getting ready for a lengthy explanation.

"Well, my names Bryan and I was actually born about 3 years before judgment day so I have a few small memories of life before. Mostly green grass, swings and chocolate, you know, the important things in life. Anyway..." John nods, encouraging the boy to continue talking as he explains how he arrived at the camp. John pays very little attention, lost in his own memories, seeing in his mind a young Kyle and Derek playing catch in the park.

_I guess the power of running the resistance is getting to them. They're acting like it's a big video game and they'll get to restart the level if they lose. What can I really say to them though? It's not like they're going to take advice from some kid they don't know from a bar of soap. Well, actually, they probably wouldn't be able to spot a bar of soap in this time..._

"I think that'll be awesome, myself." John looks up

"Sorry, what? I didn't hear that last bit."

"Oh, I said that in a year or two they're going to finish training me as a recon guy, so I'm practically already part of the general's inner circle..." He sits up a bit straighter, puffing out his chest in pride.

"So...are there any missions or anything going down at the moment?"

"Recon ones?"

"Yeah..or any really. I mean, being in their inner circle they must trust you with all the classified stuff..."

"Well, I mean kind of. Uh..oh, well I have heard about something happening.." He leans across the table and signals john to move closer as he lowers his voice to a whisper. "I don't know the details, but word is that someone is being sent on a really big mission that could be a game changer for us. It could be the key that might win us the war someday soon. "

"Do you know where this mission is taking place, or who's involved?"

"No sorry." John deflates. "But I mean they'll definitely tell me! We're like this," He holds up his crossed fingers, "Derek ,Kyle and me. It's only a matter of time." John nods, satisfied he's gotten all he can out of the boy.

"So I think I'm giving up on this breakfast for now, but it was nice meeting you, Bryan." John gets up and leaves without waiting for a response.

"Okay, but you'll be sorry later! So, you're not going to eat that then...." John hears the sound of plates being moved across the table and gives a small grin.

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John knocks on Allisons door, and after waiting for the appropriate response, pushes it open.

"Hey."

"Hey John." Allison looks up and smiles. She closes a mouldy looking note book and what appears to be an old pencil case and puts both on the ground behind the bed.

"So..uh... how are you?"

"I'm good...How are you?"

"Good, great." He pauses, rocking on his feet. "So, um, what are you doing today?" _Wow I suck at small talk._

"Not a lot. John, clearly you didn't come here to ask about my day. Is there something you wanted?" _Alright, straight to the point._

"Okay...um...so I heard that there's this big mission about to go down....and with the way you've been talking to Kyle and Derek, I think you're going to be on it. I want to know what you're doing."

Allison stares, dumbfounded by the insinuation.

"John...How did you..?" She shakes her head. "Well, you do just seem to just know things so I guess I'll skip the how. Why do you care?"

"I don't know. I guess...I just want to know what's happening so maybe I can get in on it." Allison laughs.

"John, you're a good guy as near as I can tell, but there's no way they're going to trust you with this kind of mission. I'm sorry." She gets up and walks towards the door, holding it open and gesturing for him to leave. "I'm quite tired, please go."

John gets up and stops, facing her.

"I don't want you to do anything dangerous." Allison gives a slightly hysterical chuckle.

"John, have you been outside lately? Just breathing in this time is dangerous." She tries to walk back to her bed as he grabs her wrist.

"Wait. Look maybe I can help you..." John removes his hand, finding a damp crimson stain on his palm.

"Wait...!" John grabs her arm again and pushes up her sleeve, checking for a wound and instead finding a barcode, painted in pale red, on the base of her wrist.

"What is this for? Is this to do with the mission?"

"Look John, it's none of your business alright? Just leave it alone." She snatches her wrist away and storms out of her own room, leaving John looking after her. He glances down at his hand and back up at where she had just stood.

_What the hell?_

_********************************************************************************_

John sits on the floor in the bunk room back up against the wall, contemplating.

_Is this any of my business? What if it's like a suicide mission? But then, I don't really know her, she's not Cameron. Maybe it's what she wants. Maybe she's the best for the job. Maybe I SHOULD stay out of it..._

He looks to his left as he notices something glinting out of the corner of his eye. He reaches over to what he assumes is his bunkmates bag, next to him. He pulls out an old pocket watch and runs it between his fingers. He opens it to find a long dormant clock face with no hands. _Definitely no buttons._ He shuts it and squeezes it as he makes a fist in resolve. He places it neatly back into the soldiers bag and , having made his decision, gets up and runs out the door.

2 knocks followed by 3 knocks.

"Allison I thought you'd already..." John grabs Derek by the front of his shirt and slams him against the table immediately behind him. "Whoa, John. Calm down kid."

"What's the secret mission? I need to know NOW."

"Uh, okay. You want to give me some air first?" John roughly removes his hands and begins pacing. Derek rubs his neck.

"I guess there's no harm in telling you now. I assume you're talking about the Allison mission?" John nods. "Right, well, as you may know, Allison's father was an architect who taught her to draw quite well. She can draw virtually anything quickly and accurately- she has an amazing memory."

"What does this have to do with the mission?" John grits his teeth, becoming impatient.

"I'm getting there. So you may know that there's a main operations building where all the terminators go through at some point. That's where we're going. The building is where they keep all their information about humans and weapons and everything there. They also build new terminators there and use their information to upload instructions and memories into them. We've looked at it from every outside angle we can, and there's just no way we can see of getting in, but you see they often have human workers and prisoners being kept there, even roaming the halls...." John looks up, his eyes wild and mouth open.

"No. No. Tell me you didn't do this." John shakes his head in disbelief.

"She wanted to do it John. If she can get in there and pretend to be one of the workers, she can give us an accurate sketch of the entire facility, and maybe even entrances or exits we don't know about.

"No. It's suicide!"

"If she pulls this off, we could have the means to destroy all the newly made terminators, stop their production line and so much more! This could end the war, right here." John grabs the front of his shirt again. "John, how could this be a bad thing in any way."

"She's any innocent girl. I thought you always said nothing good could come out of an innocent girl dying?"

"For one thing, I never said that, for another, who says she's going to die?"

"She's an innocent."

"She's a soldier." Derek shoves John away from him and straightens his shirt. "If this can win us the war, it's a risk I'm willing to take." John shakes his head ever so slightly.

"Derek, what happened to you? You can't win the war this way. The machines will find a way to come back, however much you blow up. You need to work out a way to live with them..."

"You don't know me kid. You never did. You don't know anything! And if you think I will ever work with any disgusting, soulless metal..." Derek now grabs the front of Johns shirt as Kyle walks in.

"Whoa. Guys calm down!" Derek roughly lets him go and walks out, leaving a confused Kyle. "John, what happened?"

"I want you to tell me how to get to this main operations place. I want to help."

"It's pretty hard to miss being the biggest building for miles. I guess you can go with the retrieval group when they go in an hour or two to make sure Allison comes out."

"Allison said you'd never let me in on it..."

"Why wouldn't I? It sounds like she didn't want you going for her own reasons. You can't ask her about it though, she's already left."

"WHAT?! Damn it! I need to go after her." John races out the door.

"At least wait for the team John. You could blow the whole thing!"

John keeps low as he navigates his way out the exit, into the night and through the endless rubble and junk that was once a great city.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey readers,

Okay....this is a very complex and slightly dodgy chapter...so I just wanted to remind everyone that you get what you pay for! (lol) Be kind.

Oh, and I only have maybe another 3 or 4 chapters after this one and then that'll be the end (at least for a few months).

I've also copied a couple of small scenes from the "allison from palmdale" episode. I own none of those scenes and non of the characters or the original terminator creation.

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Allison runs through darkened tunnels filled with what were probably once useful pieces of equipment. She stumbles but continues to run, aware that a T-888 is close behind her-just as she'd planned. She hastens her speed, as if she is actually headed somewhere. She comes to a large crescent shaped door. The handle is rusted and difficult to manoeuvre. By using her body weight she manages to get the door open and run out into the night. A spotlight from above finds her just as she is shot with a net which tangles around her body as she falls to the ground. A T-888 leans over her and stuns her. Allison screams and loses consciousness.

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[a day earlier in the officers' quarters with Derek and kyle]

"Okay I get that you need me because I have a photographic memory and I can draw...but how will I get out of the prison when I get in there and why would they even put me in the prison and not just kill me?" Allison sits at the table in the officers' quarters, her body stiff, like an anxious cat.

"I'm getting to that, settle down. Okay...so we've been thinking about this for a while. There's a large holding area where new terminators are made. That single room is what we're particularly interested in and it happens to be a few doors down from where they hold the prisoners and workers. Once they create the new terminators, they get sent out into the war zone via multiple tunnels. That way we don't know where they're coming from. We've managed to find one of them, but if we all went down the one tunnel, it'd be a massacre. So what we need you to do is give us precise drawings on how to get to the room from the outside, and as many tunnels as you can find."

"You want me to enter a room full of terminators programmed to kill any and all humans...?" Allison stares, incredulously.

"This is where we were stuck. How would you get in there in the first place? How would you get out of the cells? Well, it seems lady luck is indeed with us. You remember that blunder of a recon mission a few days ago?" Allison nods, "well, it wasn't a blunder." Kyle gets up and begins to pace.

"But they were followed back by a terminator..."

"Yes. But they were carrying the most useful information we've ever gotten – literally. They found a girl that had been tossed out with the dead, just outside the facility. Apparently the T-888's had used a stun gun on her one too many times which caused her heart to stop. Our soldiers were spying on the facility- as I said; we've been interested in it for a while- and they managed to revive her. The girl, Hannah, had very tech savvy parents. Her father was a mechatronic engineer and her mother was an IT expert, so she had learnt a few things. She claimed that she was one of the human "helpers" and had been wondering around the facility, although not by herself, for weeks. She said that from what she saw, a simple EMP would deactivate the door locks."

"What about the rest of the facility? Wouldn't it deactivate everything else? Why haven't we tried this before?"

"We have tried it before. Hannah seems to think an EMP will only work on the locks as everything else is on a different system. When we tried it a few months ago, we were on the outside. Apparently an EMP will only work if it's in relatively close proximity to its target. So it won't work on the outside defences, but it will open every door in the building. She says that she's seen how fast they work, so it's likely the doors would only stay open for a matter of minutes."

"Okay...but again, how will I get in there?"

"I said Hannah was a prisoner...she's also your age and build. If we copy her barcode onto your arm, the terminators won't look further than that. Numbers mean everything to them."

"How exactly am I not going to get killed going to go visit the newly built terminators? Just because they're new born doesn't mean they're any sweeter..."

"We will have a team on the outside that will begin attacking as soon as the doors are unlocked. They will be throwing grenades and shooting anything that isn't human. They will send out everything they have at them so you should have at least a couple of minutes relatively free to check out the room."

"How will I get back out?" Kyle and Derek exchange glances and then look back at Allison

"Well...If all the doors unlock the rest of the prisoners will run out as well. So with them and the team firing, that should provide some cover...There'll be a second hole in the fence line away from the fighting. That will be your way out. You'll have to move fast though. The terminators will not take long to find it." Allison grits her teeth and looks down.

"I see. Won't the prisoners lead them to the hole straight away?"

"Um. Well, they won't know about that exit, only you will."

"Oh. How will I get the drawing to you if I...If I...don't make it to the fence?"

"You'll be wearing two layers of prisoner clothing. So you can draw the initial halls you see once you are brought into the prison, then do the same once you get into the other room. You should make it outside so just take off the top layer with the drawings on, and throw it near the fence somewhere and we'll get to it. Then try and get yourself out." _Good to know the priorities._

"What about all those other prisoners? They'll be directly in the line of fire."

"The team will provide them with some cover...." Allison looks doubtful, "if not, it's all for the greater good. You pull this off and we could win this war."

"What if I don't do it?"

"Then we'll find someone else. There was one of the orphan girls I was considering as a backup. She's only 12 but she's terribly keen....." Allison stops listening, horrified. She bites her lower lip. _Oh God. She's so young! This plan has so many holes it's not even funny. It's almost certain that this mission will get dozens of people killed and accomplish nothing. If I don't do it they will make it happen anyway. I'm the only one that even has a chance of doing this right..._

Allison stands up and smooths out her clothes.

"Okay. I'll do it. But if the EMP goes off and I don't come out within 5 minutes, get everyone out of there and don't ever try this plan again. There'll be another way to win."

"Yeah sure Allison. No worries. Alright, let's hash out a few details..."

********************************************************

Allison sits up, her head throbbing, the ground cold and damp. She looks around at the inside of the prison. All other prisoners near her are even dirtier and grimier than she is. She finds the hidden piece of pencil lead and immediately begins drawing what she can remember, which unfortunately, isn't all that much seeing as she was semi-conscious when they brought her in.

After she's done with that she begins to pick out the EMP device from under the skin on her thigh. She winces as her blood seeps slightly. _They can manage to steal a tiny EMP device but not a damned camera?! Well I suppose there wouldn't exactly be a lot of moments you'd want to capture..._

She finishes digging it out from her thigh and dabs at her bloodied skin as best she can. _Oh God, here goes. Huru._ She says to no one as she braces herself and presses the button.

********************************************************

John watches the facility from a safe distance, having decided to wait for the team. The soldiers walk up behind him and slap him on the back.

"Good to see you waited Connor. Kyle warned us you might be here. Now why don't you go back and let the real soldiers take care of this okay?" John looks at them, getting angrier by the minute.

"You guys know this is the dumbest plan alive right? There are so many ways it can fail I can't even think of them all! And even if by some tiny chance it does succeed, so many people will still die and it won't help you win the war!"

"Of course it'll help us. We could get in and destroy this facility, stop the creation of new terminators and put a major dent in their technology!"

"Yes and half of us will be dead and then a few weeks later they will rebuild. All they need is one single machine to survive and we're done for. This is not the way! We need machines on our side. We need to join forces. They're too strong for us. It's the only way."

"God, Derek was right about you. You've lost your marbles Connor, go home!" He says as he brushes past John, purposefully bumping him hard with his own shoulder.

"No! Look..."

"No, you look!....The prisoners are coming out...and so are the terminators." He swears and motions the rest of the soldiers to follow him, all guns raised.

********************************************************

Allison waits around the corner as the last terminator comes out of the production area. She goes inside. She gasps and falters as she nearly runs into the first of 100's of lines of skinless and thankfully, motionless, T-888's._ Keep it together Allison. Okay tunnels...tunnels..._

Allison sees the first tunnel and runs towards it, her hands shaking, ready to draw.

********************************************************

_Where's Allison? Oh God, this is so wrong. Derek and Kyle are good guys but they shouldn't be in charge. But then, who else would be....me? _

John shakes his head- he wouldn't think about that. _It's been too long; she should be here by now...The doors are going to lock!_

He looks around at the scene in front of him. Prisoners running in every direction, desperate to escape with their lives, soldiers surrounding the east wall and shooting everything they can see, grenades causing fire explosions in a searing arc around the building itself.

"ALLISON!!!" He yells as Allison runs out of the doors, clutching the drawings in her arms. Looking frightened, but determined as her eyes find his.

John runs towards the fence at full bolt and gestures for her to meet him at the side exit. She hits the ground and rolls to her left just as a shot is fired in her direction. She half crawls and half runs towards the hole in the fence. She turns around as she hears a scream and sees a young girl that must have been following her, trying to crawl towards the exit.

"Help her!!" Allison's command is swallowed by the noise of the explosions and other screams. The girl can't seem to move her legs but is clearly still conscious. Allison shares a look with john and throws the drawings through the hole in the fence as she turns around and runs towards the injured young girl.

"ALLISON NO!!!" John reaches through the fence as if to follow her and gets grabbed around his chest by someone behind him.

"Grab the drawings, we're losing. We need to go NOW."

John ignores him and runs back at the fence just as Allison gets grabbed by the girl on the ground, whose eyes are glowing red. She is knocked unconscious and dragged away.

"NO!!!!"

"She's gone John. She's a soldier. She knew the risks."

"Stop it! Stop being so cold!" John yells. He stops suddenly, realisation dawning on his face. He grabs the drawings.

"What are you doing?"

"Look I can get in there after her now if you guys give me cover fire. Then I can get out via these tunnels with Allison."

"John, that's suicide. Besides, most of the terminators will be back in that room."

"No, most of them will be out looking for you guys. Even if there are some in there...just give me a gun and a grenade and I'll work something out, okay?" The guy shakes his head in disbelief.

"Your funeral kid." He hands over the equipment as John maps out his escape route.

********************************************************

Allison blinks as a bright light is shined into her face.

"My name? Why should I tell you?"

A low mechanical voice speaks to her from somewhere in the room she can't see.

"If you don't, we'll give you one."

"Go ahead, I'm dying to hear it."

A T-888 comes into her view and grabs her arm, searing her with a real barcode. She screams.

"Allison! Allison Young."

********************************************************

John, now inside, makes his way as fast as he can through the building. He comes around the corner and runs straight into a T-888. He manages to shoot the appropriate spot on it's head and it goes down.

_Luck is a wonderful thing. Only 4 more terminator killing bullets. God. Okay don't panic you're doing this for cam...for Allison. For Allison._

He rounds another corner

********************************************************

Allison whimpers as someone else comes into the room. She looks up at a perfect replica of herself.

"You shouldn't have run. You're just making things worse for yourself." Allison stares on incredulously. "Your hair, it's so pretty. We work very hard on the hair-to get it right. I'm not your enemy."

"Right." Her voice seething with sarcasm as she looks up.

"I want to get to know you. You're very brave. That must be why Kyle Reese chose you.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

********************************************************

John hears Allisons voice through the large metal door. He finds a hiding spot and sits for a long while, gun raised, waiting for her interrogator to finally emerge. _Even if I don't make it out, at least they'll be one less terminator._

********************************************************

The terminator drops a metal bracelet on the table on front of Allison

"You said your sister gave you that bracelet. It's a pass into the Reese camp. They would have known what I was." She grabs her around the neck. "You lied to me."

"I'll never help you get to Kyle Reese." A snapping noise is heard as she drops Allison's body to the ground.

"You already did."

********************************************************

The door slowly swings open as John takes aim with his gun, his finger quivering over the trigger. He inhales sharply.

_Cameron? No. No..Oh God, it's Allisons copy...not Cameron. She's not her; she's got to die!_

John's finger no longer seems to want to obey him. His whole body shakes as the terminator wearing Allisons face walks out of his sight.

John stands up in a daze, moments or hours later-he wasn't sure. He begins to head home to wait for the Allison replacement to infiltrate the camp.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay guys, I've been really busy lately so this is a really short chapter -BUT, I will have the next one (which is also quite short) up in a day, so hopefully you'll forgive me...

4-5 more chapters to go!

_*********************************************************************************************************************_

_John covers his face with one hand and reaches out to Cameron with the other as the noise gets unbearably loud and the heat from the surrounding explosions sears his face._

"_Cameron!"_

He sits up abruptly and nearly knocks heads with the Allison-replacement, who is sitting on the left side of Allison's bed. John stares, open mouthed.

"What are you doing in this bed?"

"This...bed..?" John asks, not really interested in the answer, still staring at her. He grasps his throbbing head, not even remembering how he managed to get home or why he was sleeping in Allison's bed.

_The Allison replacement. I didn't think she'd be here this quickly. Oh God, what do I say? It's Cameron...no. No, it's someone programmed to kill me...or I guess Kyle or Derek seeing as I'm no one..._

"John?" She matches his stare with a dead pan look.

"How...uh..how did you get away?"

"Get away?" She cocks her head, without shifting her stare. _I should break eye contact..come on John it's NOT her and it's not your friend Allison either. She's a stranger._ John sighs as he tears his eyes away and pushes his hair back.

"Yeah from the um.." _Don't let her know you saw her interrogate Allison, stupid!_ "...from the prison. Last I saw some T-888 drag you off. I thought you were done for." _Poor Allison._

She just continues to stare at him, her eyes almost conveying confusion. _Why isn't she acting like Allison? She's an infiltrator...Maybe she's deciding if my life is worth anything._

"Allison?" John swallows hard, grits his teeth and locks his eyes with hers. "What's wrong?"

The Allison-replacement moves forward and touches his face. John jumps like an electric current has hit him as he all but falls off the bed and backs away; an animal in harsh headlights.

"What are you doing? No one touches me. You can't touch me." He keeps crossing and uncrossing his arms as if he doesn't know what to do with them. She gets off the bed and takes a step towards him.

"I'm sorry for your loss John." John immediately looks up and drops his arms. He's silent for several minutes as the wheels turn in his head. He takes a deep breath.

"Cameron?" John whispers as his voice shakes with quiet uncertainty.

Camerons eyes flash blue. John stares for another minute before speaking again.

"But...you...you ..died. I mean....you died. And my mum left...and..." His eyes begin to water slightly. "...and...Derek died...and Riley...and Charley..." His voice is now bordering on hysteria. Cameron takes another step towards him as John puts an arm out to stop her and moves to the other side of the room, walking just for something to do "...You're dead. They're all gone. I'm dreaming. This is a nightmare. It's not real. YOU'RE NOT REAL!" He looks up and yells at her through tears as he backs up against the wall.

Cameron looks on intently, head cocked. After a minute, she walks over, puts her arms around him and hugs him.

"No. No, stop...stop.." He protests, weakly trying to push through her iron embrace, and failing as she continues to hold him. He gives up and hugs her back and shuts his eyes, the tears flowing freely now. Cameron stares ahead with a vacant expression.

**********************************************************************************************************

"I'm sorry for your loss John."

"Cameron?"

But...you...you ..died. I mean....you died. And my mum left...and..." Cameron had checked his vitals via his epidermis several minutes earlier. His blood pressure had already been close to hypertension then- it was very likely to have reached dangerous levels now. _He needs comfort._ She takes a step forward as he backs away, still mindlessly ranting and beginning to shake. _Shaking can be caused by excessive amounts of adrenaline, which can become detrimental to a human's health._

"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" _John cannot get comfort from another human in this time line. He needs to be calmed._

Cameron moves towards him and puts her arms around him. _The pressure from arm tension on skin causes a suppression of the sympathetic nervous system which slows the heart and respiration rate._

"I thought I'd never see you again." John whispers, his face still on her shoulder.

"Everything's okay John, I'm here now." He grips her harder.

_Returned force is a sign of affection. _

Cameron holds him closer.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay this is also short, i know i know. But it's mostly for the jameron fans (just a taste)....

******************************************************************************

Cameron sits on the edge of the bed as John sleeps, his face calm and content. She watches his eyes gently flutter under his eyelids and reaches out to touch him on the side of his face.

_Blood pressure and heart rate normal, skin temperature slightly low, amount of REM sleep adequate._

She leaves her hand resting on his face for 3.2 seconds longer than strictly necessary. Cameron finally looks away, removes her hand and pulls the blankets up to Johns chin. She makes her way towards the door to scan the perimeter.

_Zero movement, little to no sleep disruptive sounds, 3 different emergency evacuation routes. Threat level – minimal._

She turns around as John mumbles something. Cameron, concerned over his sudden apparent consciousness, moves back towards the bed.

"Mmfgl....wgh..." Cameron cocks her head.

"I don't understand John."

"Cameron..." Cameron notices John's eyes continuing to flutter under his eyelids, clearly still asleep. "....missed you....why did you leave me..?"

Cameron blinks, slowly and precisely. She takes 2.3 steps towards the bed and lowers herself onto the ground so her face is a few inches from Johns. She drops her decibel level so as not to wake him.

"I'm sorry John."

_Talking to unconscious humans has been thought to comfort the subconscious and improve daytime functioning. _

"I didn't mean to upset you. I believed myself to no longer be an effective protector." She brings her hand up in front of her face and makes a loose fist 3 times, seemingly testing its function. "I'm still uncertain." John's eyes flicker open.

"Cameron?"

"John. I'm sorry. You were experiencing the parasomnia known as Somniloquy, so I was trying to help you." John looks alarmed. "Sleep talking."

"Oh. Um.." He says feebly, embarrassed, "uh...what did I say? "

"Your sentence was fragmented. You said 'Cameron...missed you....why did you leave me..?'" John blushes. "John, are you fevered? Your face is undergoing erythema." She touches his forehead.

"No. I'm blushing, I guess. It happens sometimes when humans are embarrassed"

"Why are you embarrassed? Is it what you said in your sleep?"

"Yes."

"Why does this cause embarrassment?"

"I don't know. I guess because I missed a robot." Cameron blinks. "I'm sorry, that was rude. What I mean is when you say something personal and someone doesn't say it back...well, that can lead to embarrassment for one or both people."

Cameron looks confused.

"But I could not reply; you were unconscious."

"What would you have said? You can't miss me or worry about me."

Cameron pauses, considering.

"I was not in a functioning body until several hours ago. But when I was reactivated...I had an unpleasant sensation when I remembered that you were alone, unprotected."

"Because if I die, that means your mission failed?"

"Yes. And because if you cease to exist, so would the human race. There would also be no point for my survival."

"Judging by this timeline, the human race can exist without me. What if I'm not the saviour and I died. Would you even miss me then?" Cameron is silent for a moment.

"I believe I did miss your company. You're the only one that explains things to me, and doesn't treat me like I'm just 'metal'- Even if that's what I am."

"You missed me?" John grins. He shifts himself slightly closer to Cameron's face, still just inches from his.

"Yes." Cameron doesn't move, only continues watching him. John moves closer still, pausing again, checking for her reaction. He puts a hand on her face and looks at her lips- which are only half an inch from his- and back into her eyes. John closes his eyes and leans forward.

Kyle bursts into the room as John jumps backwards. Cameron stays exactly where she is, still looking at John.

"Hey John, one of the guys saw you sneak in here last night without talking to anyone. I know it's early, but I need you to tell me exactly what happened at the prison, frame for frame. Maybe we can figure out a way to..."

"Uh knock Kyle?" Kyle looks from John to Cameron and back again, his disbelieving eyes resting on Cameron.

"Allison? ALLISON?" Kyles voice is slightly more high pitched than normal.

Cameron plasters a smile on her face and turns around, standing, all in one fluid motion. _Smiling and hugging are performed as an act of comfort and joy. Both are socially appropriate. _She extends her arms and runs at Kyle.

"Kyle!" Kyle hugs her hard for several moments. He grabs her shoulders and pushes her back, holding her in front of him.

"How did you get away? I knew you were good, but I didn't know you were 'bring yourself back from the brink of death' good! John said he saw a terminator drag you away."

Cameron, still smiling brilliantly, answers in an appropriately animated tone.

"It's a really long, heroic, story. "

Kyle laughs heartily and gives her another hug.

"We've got time. Come on then hero; regale us with your tale! I know you managed to save at least half the prisoners on your mission."

"Yes. I will regale you with my tale from the prison. A rest first would be nice." Kyle nods and lets go of her shoulders, turning towards the door.

"Of course you want rest. Sorry, my excitement got the best of me for a minute. See you in a few hours. Coming John?" John looks at him, mildly shocked.

"Oh...well I thought maybe I'd stay.."

"Don't be selfish. You aren't going to hear the story before the rest of us! Now go on back to your bunk and leave miss Allison to get her beauty sleep!" Kyle continues out the door as John gives Cameron a quick apologetic look and reluctantly follows him.

"John," he turns as he's halfway out the door, "we'll talk." He nods and shuts the door behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Alright one more chapter after this one.

I should have the next one up within the next few days. Thanks for reading and sorry I can't continue it further! (exams coming up)

*************************************************************

"So machines aren't part of the resistance in this timeline?"

"Nope."

"That will not be supportive of the end game plan of peace."

"No." John glances behind Cameron's head and notices Derek staring straight at him. "Hey Cameron, I'll come meet you in your room later. I've got something to sort out."

"Okay. The room will be of more use to you, John-seeing as I don't sleep."

"Oh. Right...well okay. I'll see you in my room later. Try not to act like a freak, okay." He says as he brushes past her and meets up with Derek.

*************************************************************

Silence as the two stare each other down, both of them unmoving.

"John."

"Derek."

The silence continues.

"So, you're alive."

"Yep."

"And you went on that damned mission even though I told you to stay out of it."

"Yeah..."

Silence for another minute. Derek sighs.

"And Allison probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you. So, thanks, I guess."

"I..."

"Don't get me wrong. What you did still put the entire mission at risk and could've ended up a lot worse than it did."

"Thanks?"

"I'm glad Allison's Alive." He puts a hand on Johns shoulder and gives it an appreciative squeeze. "Just don't do it again." John gives him a half smile, slightly taken aback by Derek's sudden change in demeanour towards him.

Derek nods and walks off, clearly uncomfortable with the miniscule crumb of emotion between the two of them.

*************************************************************

_Knock knock knock._

"Yeah?"

The door swings open as Cameron enters John/Allison's room. She sits down on the bed next to him.

"The humans of this timeline seem to carry an extreme disdain for cybernetic organisms."

"Yeah, that'll happen when robots try to kill you, your family and friends on a daily basis."

"You don't hate all cyborgs and many have tried to terminate you." _Yeah, including you..._John looks at her, slightly uncomfortably.

"That's different."

"Okay. John, it is my opinion that we need to get the resistance fighters to see reason and reprogram terminators. Maybe if I showed them who I am..."

"No! No. They'll burn you alive Cameron. We need to ease them into it rather than explaining to them that someone they know and love was recently killed and replaced with a hyper-alloy combat chassis wearing her face. We'll come up with something, I promise. I'm too tired to do it tonight though." Cameron gets up, as if to leave. John grabs her arm, lightly. "I didn't mean for you to go right away." She sits back on the bed and stares. "So....are you going to tell me how exactly you're back? How you got a body?"

Cameron considers for a moment.

"From the information I could gather together, I think Weaver found me and John Henry a few days ago. She sent John Henry on a separate mission and then bided her time until Allison was able to infiltrate the facility."

"How did she...?"

"...know that would happen? A similar event occurred in my original timeline. She knew my history and chose the opportune moment to seize the pre-reprogrammed me and put my chip in."

"The opportune moment..." John suddenly looks horrified. "You mean the opportune moment right after Allison was killed by the other you?"

"Yes."

"How is that opportune? Why didn't you save her??"

"If she had let her go they surely would've reprogrammed or destroyed me before I could get to you."

"No. You practically killed her yourself. It's not right."

"John..."

"Listen, I need sleep. We'll talk another time. You know the way out." John instructs as he gets under the covers and turns towards the other wall of the room, his back to Cameron. Cameron stands up and lingers for a moment, staring, before turning around and swiftly leaving the room.

*************************************************************

Cameron marches up and down the halls immediately outside John's new room, patrolling them for signs of trouble or danger.

_John is upset with me. His irritability is irrational. I could not have stopped the termination of Allison Young as I was not embodied when the event occurred. _

Cameron continues marching, looking vaguely troubled.

_Human emotions are unpredictable and illogical. Perhaps I should explain it to John. Explaining things is polite._

Cameron stops and cocks her head as she hears footsteps coming down the second hallway to her left. She hides as Derek and Kyle round the corner, deep in conversation.

"No, dammit! I say we need to do this now." Derek shouts.

"Look, I say we wait a couple more days, just to get everything in order; get the troops ready."

"If we wait too long, the damned metal with expect it! As much as I had to admit it, they aren't stupid. We broke in there a couple of days ago. I'm certain somebody would have seen Allison in the tunnel room. In fact, it's a miracle they didn't follow her back..."

"I agree. But if we are going to finally blow up the facility, we need to do it right."

"Okay, but we need to do it SOON! They won't expect us to strike again so quickly. How about tomorrow night then? Then we've got the rest of the night and all tomorrow to make plans." Kyle sighs and scratches his head, looking away. After a moment, he turns back towards Derek with a mildly determined look on his face, and nods, slowly.

"Alright, fine. Let's do this damned thing! Tomorrow night, we blow up the main facility and start to win this war!" Derek cheers and roughly puts his arm around Kyle, who does the same. The pat each other on the back and walk towards the officers quarters, heads held a little higher.

Cameron waits until she can no longer see either of them, and turns back towards John's room.

"That plan...is CRAP." Cameron nods.

"Faeces, dung, fertilizer, manure.."

"Yeah, sorry. I meant that it's a really terrible plan." Cameron nods again. "They'll all be killed!"

"I assume this plan has something to do with Allison's infiltration into the facility 2 days ago?"

"Yeah, they wanted her to do drawings of the tunnel room where they make new terminators so they can sneak in that way."

"They don't think skynet would have prepared an alternative plan for such an occurrence?"

"I'm pretty sure they're too arrogant. Do you think any of them will get through?"

"Probability states that at least 33% of them will get through into the actual room, however there is almost certainly a backup plan that identifies humans and terminates them upon illegal entry via the tunnels."

"What if they sent in a terminator first that could disable the backup system for that room? Would there be any chance of their plan succeeding at all?" Cameron looks off to her left, calculating, and then back at John.

"There would be a 78.9% less probability of total soldier mortality occurring as a result of this plan."

"Is there a way for us to do that? I mean...I guess if it were possible to get a hold of a T-888, I could have a go at reprogramming one...I have some programming experience and I had a bit of a look at Vick's chip a few months ago."

"It might be possible for me to temporarily immobilise one of the T-888's with their own stun gun, if we got one alone. I could also provide some functional information needed to reprogram the chip. "

"Are you sure that that would work?"

"No." John nods and gets up off the bed, putting on his jacket.

"Well, some chance is better than that stupid 'lets just head on in and see how it goes' plan. Let's go find us a straggler terminator."


	9. Final Chapter

Okay this is the last chapter (the title may just have tipped you off on that fact...lol) It's a bit longer than the rest. I hope it answers any questions you have (although not all, seeing as it is terminator story and you always have to have unanswered questions!). Let me know what you think!

*************************************************************************************************************

John and Cameron walk outside in silence. John has his head down and Cameron is nursing an automatic weapon. As they pass piles of debris and what appears to be a once-live army tank, Cameron stops and looks at John.

"You are upset over Allison Youngs death." John looks up.

"Yes."

"I did not have a body at that time. There was no way I could have been of any assistance in the matter."John looks at her, a sheepish expression on his face.

"I know. I realised a while ago, but I was too embarrassed to say anything. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's okay, John." John smiles weakly and then gives her a puzzled look.

"Why did you just tell me that? Why is it relevant?"

"You were upset with me."John's smile widens.

"Why does that matter? I think it's interesting that you cared at all that I was upset."

"The emotional state you were in due to my supposed actions could have caused you to not trust me which would also have induced stress. Stress is not healthy in the long term for humans. Your life has enough stress."

"Oh." John's face falls.

"I also didn't enjoy you being emotionally upset with me as it gave me an unpleasant sensation- much like the one I developed when Riley was around."

"Riley? Why would you bring her up?"

"I didn't like her. She was wrong for you." John stops and looks at Cameron, taking a step closer.

"Cameron...that sounds kind of like you're jealous..." She blinks once and continues staring.

"John..." Cameron pushes John roughly to her left and rolls to her right simultaneously to avoid the gun shots coming from in front of them. The tall, middle-aged, brown-haired man raises his gun and points it at Cameron's head.

*************************************************************************************************************

John throws himself at the terminator, barely making the gun move half an inch off course as it fires. It's just enough.

Cameron immediately grabs the gun and uses her weight to drop his arm to the ground on the left. She twists the gun out of his hand and tosses it towards John. The T-888 grabs Camerons arms. She pushes them down and around, freeing herself from his grip. She pushes him backwards, denting the dormant army tank behind him. She throws her left arm up to hit him. He grabs her arm and other shoulder and tosses her 10 metres in front of him onto a mountain of useless debris.

_I should change to a more effaceable strategy._

Cameron pushes herself up off the ground, a 7 cm gash across her left cheek, her endoskeleton chassis showing through. She runs at the T-888 and knocks him down again. She leans over him and continuously punches him alternatively with both fists. He throws her off him.

"CAMERON!!" She looks over as John tosses her the stun gun that must have fallen off the T-888.

The metal gets up and walks over to Cameron. He picks her up off the ground by the front of her clothes. She kicks at his midsection and twists her way out of his grip once more. She delivers another blow to his head with her foot and pushes him to the ground. She drops down next to him, puts the stunner up to full blast and, pressing it against his metal skull, pushes the button.

He shakes for a minute and then his eyes fade to black.

"John, find me something to open the port." John looks around and pulls something out of the pile of debris near him and runs towards her. After the cover is removed, Cameron uses her own fingers to turn the shielded tab on the end of the chip and gives it a half turn counterclockwise.

John sighs in relief as Cameron pulls out the chip and pockets it.

"Okay. We need to get that thing back to the camp as soon as possible, before everyone wakes up. Let's go." John begins to head back the way they came.

Cameron stands up and seemingly effortlessly, tosses the T-888 over her shoulder and marches forward.

*************************************************************************************************************

Derek walks purposefully towards John's room with his lips pursed and continuously narrowing eyes that stare straight ahead. He quickens his pace as he rounds the corner and sees the door shut quickly behind John.

He knocks on the door several times. No sound can be heard.

"John I saw you go in there, come on." Silence. _This is bullshit!_

Derek bangs loudly and repeatedly on the door until John opens it.

"What's up?"

"What's up? What took you so long? And don't tell me you were asleep- I just saw you go in there 1 minute ago!" Derek gestures aggressively towards the room. John steps forwards, his body still hiding the entrance, and closes the door behind him.

"Sorry...I was in the middle of something when you arrived." Derek opens his mouth. "...In the middle of starting something, I mean..."

"That makes no sense." _What is he hiding in that room?_

"Okay um...Allison is in there with me. Need more of an explanation?"

Derek narrows his eyes further.

"That's not the end of it. I hadn't noticed anything too strange since you got back...but today I talked to some of the guys and really thought about it myself..."

"Listen I..."

"Quiet. Alright, I'm just going to say it. I think...I'm not sure what I think... but I know that something is up with you and little miss Allison. There's something wrong about her...And you're being so secretive..." John shifts his feet slightly, beginning to get uncomfortable.

"Well, I mean, she had a really traumatic experience...Anyone is bound to be acting a bit odd..."

"No. It's more than that." John opens his mouth, and immediately closes it again, as if deciding what to reveal to Derek. "Kyle may have a soft spot for you and Allison, but I definitely don't!" Derek breathes heavily as he waits for John to speak. John is silent for a minute and then sighs.

"Okay...I'll tell you the secret."

"I'm listening." Derek crosses his arms.

"I'm...from the past." Derek swallows, but still stares intently at John with his lips pressed together in a hard line.

"Go on."

"As I said, I'm from the past. It was all a bit of an accident really. Someone came through time to warn us all of judgment day. Of course, almost no one took them seriously. They first came the year before I was born. My mum was the only one to believe them. She prepared me my whole life for it and tried, ultimately futilely, to prevent judgement day. Then in 2007, someone came back again. Apparently there was a vital technological leap that had to be stopped in that year. The Terminators sent someone back too, and while we were running from them, I accidently stepped into the bubble and jumped forward. That's why I was naked when you found me."

"So...you told Allison and she freaked?" John nods. "I don't blame her. Time travel...wow. That's just...weird." Derek uncrosses his arms and sighs. "But I guess that all kind of makes sense. And it explains how you know what you do and how we found you. Whatever happened to the time traveller?"

"Oh ...uh." John stutters. "H-he never made it into the bubble. The terminator ..um..knocked him away. So I guess he's still in 2007. I hope he's okay." _He doesn't look like he's particularly hoping. He's still hiding something..._

"So, there's nothing else? You aren't planning to go back to that terminator facility and do something stupid are you?"

"Definately not." John his head.

"Good." _Just us then._ "Alright, get some sleep then. Don't ever keep secrets from me or Kyle again John. You're a soldier now. We don't tolerate secrecy. That goes for Allison too." He turns around as John nods. He starts down the hall and pauses again. "A bit of a left field question here John...but...the guy-the one that came back in time....It wasn't Kyle was it?"

John laughs.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well it's just...you gave him a strange look when you first met him, like maybe you knew him...and he seems to have a soft spot for you..." Derek asks tentatively.

"No, no it's wasn't him. But he does look a bit like me...I suppose that's why I was staring at him when I first saw him. Maybe we are distant relatives, who knows right?" Johns mouth breaks into a secret smile he can't seem to contain.

"Yeah...I guess you guys do look kind of similar...."Derek stares for a moment as John swallows, waiting to be interrogated further. "Thank you for telling me the truth. Good night."

Derek turns and heads back to his room as John breathes a sigh of relief.

_John and Kyle related? I guess if there was a direct blood relation like father and son or brothers...that combined with the similar looks, well, that might have even been enough to temporarily confuse a terminator like that one that attacked John..._

Derek shakes his head and smiles.

_A time pretzel involving kyle going back and impregnating a woman to meet her son back in his future when they are similar ages? Nah. That's way too farfetched even for a machine dominated earth._

*************************************************************************************************************

"Okay, I think we are almost finished. Good thing too, seeing as the sun is pretty much up."

"Yes, several of the soldiers are already awake. I can hear them."

"At least we got it down. It's kind of a hack job seeing as we only had maybe 4 hours...but it should be enough to show them what we mean, right?" Cameron nods.

"Yes. It should successfully demonstrate that terminators can be reprogrammed to work for our side." John smiles.

"You said 'our side'." His grin becomes wider. "We make a pretty good team, you and me." One corner of Cameron's mouth twitches up in a tiny half smile.

"Yes. John, you should get some sleep. You need to be functioning at your best tonight in case our reprogramming is unsuccessful."

"Right. Okay, well wake me in a few..."

They both turn towards the sound of quickening footsteps and shouting coming from the direction of the door. They get up and walk quietly towards the entrance. Opening it a crack, John steals a glance at a panting and sweaty teenaged boy as he yells at a group of soldiers in fragmented, panicked sentences. A fellow solidier tends to his bloodied head and arms. John wedges his ear in the small space between the door and the frame. Cameron just stands where she is and cocks her head, listening intently.

*************************************************************************************************************

"We...I mean we were....and I was...And they..." Kyle rounds the corner, Derek by his side.

"Calm down. Talk slowly and get it all out."

"No! Time...none..."

"We aren't going to get anything at all if you don't calm down." The boy pushes the medic soldier away from his wounds and looks back at Kyle, a panicked look still clear in his eyes.

"We were out, and we were found and chased."

"Okay...At least you're back now..."

"No. We were followed." Kyle and Dereks eyes widen.

"How many and how long?"

"There were 3 of them. They'll be here in 6, maybe 7 minutes tops before...before they find us here." The boy falls to his knees, sobbing. "I'm so sorry. We didn't mean...I...I'm so sorry!"

"Stand to attention soldiers! We need to get everyone out NOW! Tell everyone to put on jackets and take as much food as the can carry without hindering their getaway. Take them to the hidden tunnels in the back. I'll come in last. Make sure we have enough explosives to cave in the entrance once we're all through."

"It wouldn't be better to use them on the terminators?"

" I'm afraid those explosives aren't nearly strong enough. We have a few granades here in case we don't get there in time. No more questions, GO!" Kyle grabs two men by their shoulders as they turn to head off. "You and you, hide on either side of this entrance as far away as you can get whilst still being able to aim for the terminators. I'll be right here to draw their attention. I'm just going to get the guns and grenades, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Huru!" Kyle and Derek turn and run towards the officers quarters as the soldiers move off to their assigned hiding spots.

*************************************************************************************************************

John turns to Cameron.

"It'll be a massacre. They can't possibly get everyone out that quickly."

"Yes, it will be like shooting fish in an enclosed, hollow, cylindrical shaped geometrical object."

"You mean like a barrel?" Cameron pauses and nods

"Yes." John tries not to smile.

"We need to activate the T-888 now."

"I agree." They shut the door

*************************************************************************************************************

Kyle finishes loading his backup gun and straps on his last grenade. He looks over at Derek (who is doing the same thing), and nods. Derek begins to head out the door when Kyle stops him.

"Hang on. How do we know they got everyone out?"

"We just have to trust them Kyle. They know what they're doing. Come on, we have to go NOW. " Kyle grabs dereks arm as he turns to leave again.

"Wait. What about Allison? Or John? I haven't seen either of them for a while. We need to warn them."

"Oh. Uh...I actually saw them earlier. John and Allison are in Allisons room..." Kyle furrows his brow.

"You mean...together?"

"Yeah...I guess they are friends now."

"Oh. Well we need to go warn them!"

Derek stares out the door.

"I think I can hear something. We may only have a couple of minutes. They might be safer staying where they are anyway..."

Kyle doesn't look convinced, but nods.

"I'll get to them if there's time. Alright brother, let's be the soldiers we are meant to be." He cocks his gun and walks out.

*************************************************************************************************************

John has his hand on the chip, just as he's about to insert it into the T-888 head port. He stops and looks at Cameron.

"What if we die?"

"There is a 35% chance this will occur, subject to alteration depending on the number of hostile terminators gaining access...and if we've reprogrammed this T-888 satisfactorily."

"You mean he might kill us as well?"

"It is a possibility, yes." John swallows.

"Cameron, is there anything you want to say to me in case we don't make it?"

"No john." John sighs. _It's now or never._ He grits his teeth and continues speaking.

"Look...I know you can't ever love me or anything but.."

"John, you theoretically shouldn't love or be with anyone-being alone will significantly increase your safety and rationality margin. But I understand that being John Conner can be lonely..." John grabs her hands and she looks down then up. "John, I'm a machine. You should be with a human girl; someone like you."

"Cameron....I had the exact perfect situation. I had you as a human...only, I realised she could never really be you. I didn't want her. When I was around her all I could think about was you, all I want, is you. I don't care if you're a cyborg." He brings his hand up to gently caress the exposed coltan on her injured face with the tips of his fingers. " I...I love you. Every part of you."

They stare for a bit and John begins to lean in. At the last moment Cameron stops him and puts her hand over his, grasping it.

"You need to put the chip in now. The terminators will arrive in approximately 2.32 minutes. She removes his hand from her face as he inserts the chip.

"120 seconds right?" She nods and heads to the door. _We could die right now....it's wrong...she doesn't love me...at least, not in the way a human loves. But she never wants to be without me and would die for me. She even put her life in my hands when she gave me that pocket-watch detonator. Isn't that love?_ John looks up as Cameron reaches the door, her hand almost touching the knob. _Screw it._ "Cameron" she spins around. "Joh..." He grabs her face in his hands and pushes her up against the wall, kissing her fervently and desperately. After several moments he stops and looks at her, his eyes searching hers.

"Cameron? Are you okay?" He questions.

"The sensation is not unpleasant." She pauses and then brings her hands up to his face and closes her eyes, kissing him back. It starts off passionate once again, and eventually begins to slow down, the kisses becoming sweeter as time runs short. John has one hand over hers on his face and one hand behind her neck as they both pull back ever so slightly, their faces barely an inch apart. John breathes heavily, his gaze continuing to wander back and forth from her eyes to her lips.

"We need to go." Cameron says quietly, her palms still resting against his cheeks.

"Yes. We do." They both drop their hands and spin around to see Weaver standing in the room. Gunshot sounds can be heard through the wall.

"Weaver? What do you mean, we? Where are we going?"

Weaver answers as she tosses the bed aside and punches an unbelievably large hole in the cement that was once beneath it. She pulls out similar equipment to what was seen previously in her basement – a time jumper. She switches it on and a charging noise can be heard.

"Back home. Back to your mother in 2007. " John and Cameron look at each other, Cameron actually looks mildly shocked. _What the hell?_ "I told you John, everything is organised and timed exactly as I wish it. I've had this planned for longer than you can possibly imagine." She says, answering his questioning look. She continues to attend to the computer parts in front of her.

"But..why now? I don't understand. Why did you even bring me here? Why did you send Cameron first?"

"You would not have gone if you didn't have a reason to jump. You've learned what you needed to learn, and now it's time to leave." The room starts to shudder and flash as the time jumper almost finishes warming up.

They hear screams outside as the terminators break through the walls just outside their room. John grabs Cameron's hand. "You're coming with me this time. I won't lose you again." She squeezes his hand back and gives him a small smile.

"Wherever John Conner goes, I go too. I won't ever leave you unprotected." He smiles back.

Just as the room begins to fade away in a blinding light and deafening crack, the re-programmed T-888 sits up and looks at them, eyes flashing red as the wall collapses behind them and Kyle Reese stumbles through it, gun in hand.

"Allison!"

Then the world disappears in a blaze of fire, screams and gunshots.

THE END (to be continued but not by me...)

*************************************************************************************************************

Okay guys that's it! Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry I had to end it a bit abruptly, but exams are coming up and i thought this ending was better than nothing.

There are other season 3 stories some people have been writing if you'd like to see a different take on it. I hear there are some good ones. Anyway, thanks for reading and here's to getting an actual season 3! (Hey, it could happen...)


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